Tuesday, August 5, 2008

What’s been up with Kid Creole?

You know I’m deep into some Kid Creole & the Coconuts, right? Last October, I blogged about a show they played on the Sunset Strip. (They rocked it... even with a local jam band putting the groove down.)

I sometimes wonder what the Kid – a.k.a. August Darnell – is getting up to in England, where he has lived for years.

Now I know.

Mr. Darnell, until this past weekend, was starring in a traveling theatrical show called “Oh! What a Night.” It’s a bunch of old pop-disco hits performed by a bouncy young cast... and Kid Creole in the role of nightclub owner “Brutus T. Firefly.”

If that sounds like the corniest thing you ever heard of, follow this link and watch a lengthy video preview of “Oh! What a Night” (or watch as much of it as you can stand). Kid Creole leads the ensemble on tunes like “Play That Funky Music,” “Love Train” and “Celebration.”

This is the revue you will find in the main showroom of Hell.

August Darnell had nothing to do with creating this show. But he starred in it for more than a decade, traveling all over the U.K. and Europe. Because they lurv Kid Creole in the U.K. and Europe... even without his Coconuts. People obviously paid money to see this show, so cheers to him for making a living.

“Oh! What a Night” came to an end on Sunday in Klagenfurt, Austria. Now Mr. Darnell is ready to hit the road again with the Coconuts and his own band. Matter fact, they’re playing a world-music festival in the South of France Friday night.

No plans to come to North America, doggone it.

Embedded below is a 3-minute promo video of Kid Creole, uploaded in May. The Kid discusses a new compilation CD – “Going Places: The August Darnell Years 1976-1983” – which is chock full of rarities.

This CD includes tracks I’d never heard of, such as “Marathon Runner” by the Aural Exciters (co-written by Darnell). I’m streaming that one on my Vox blog. Click here to listen. It’s got a funky thump.

Most of these tracks are up on eMusic, so I’m a happy lad right now. (I’d be happier if Kid Creole came back to the U.S.A. for a spell.)

Dude! We may disagree on funky "Miss You" is, but I'm all over Mr. Darnell, AKA "The Entertainer". Great news. One can only hope for new albums (I've got them all, even the overseas releases and some kind of crappy offshoots -- Hello Gichy Dan). I have the music from Oh What A Night and yeah, it kind of sucks, but some Kid is better than no Kid.